I'll Never Leave
by Sk8rKAKe
Summary: Aqua, a gifted 15 year old living with Tony Stark, encounters the new addition to the Avengers and doesn't know how to feel. Until, that is, they almost lose each other. (This is an OC insert to the MCU, meaning there will be some slight differences, but not hugely. Possible future Infinity War spoilers. Rated M for future chapters.)
1. Chapter 1 - Just the start

Chapter 1 – Just the start

Aqua sat in the bottom of her pool, listening to the sounds of the compound. What would have been muted sounds for others came through clearly for her. Steve was upset, Tony was yelling, Nat and Bruce sat by trying to calm the former two, Vis intermittently tried getting a phrase in and usually failed, Pepper was pacing, and Wanda was about to enter Aqua's pool room. As the door opened, Aqua floated to the top.

"Got tired of the yelling?" Aqua asked, pulling the water out of her hair, drying it. Aqua, as her name suggested, had a talent with water. She could do just about anything with it: move it, freeze it, expand it, create it, and vaporize it, just to name a few. In some ways, her ability tended to look a lot like Wanda's, it shown blue when she controlled it, but she didn't have any of the telepathic tendencies. This led the two to become a bit closer in the last year. Her blue-ombre hair fell in soft ways passed her shoulders.

"Yes," she pressed her fingers onto her temple, "don't get me wrong, it's a serious matter. If Barnes is on the loose after killing all those people, then he needs to be stopped. And I understand Steve wanting to protect his friend, but Mr. Stark is trying to do the same for Steve. It's a never-ending loop of an argument."

"Why do you think I've stayed down here? Though it doesn't help that the yelling only gets louder when I'm in the water. I just feel more calm. I always have," Aqua finally stepped out of the pool, drying herself completely. "Want to grab some food?"

"You know they're in the main room, right? We'll only be putting ourselves in the line of fire up there."

"Yeah, I know." Aqua heard a jeep start outside, "well, looks like the argument is over. I'm pretty sure Steve just took off."

Aqua and Wanda meandered upstairs to the kitchen. Upon entering the room, Aqua tried to take a peek at Tony. He was sitting on a stool with his elbow on his thigh and his head in his hand with Pepper stroking his back, trying to console him. In the five years Aqua has lived with Tony and Pepper, she's only seen this side of them a handful of times. She decided to leave them for now and talk with Tony later, and continued to find some food with Wanda.

"I've been meaning to ask, but never really found the right way. . . Do you know how you got your powers?" Aqua looked up at the question Wanda had just asked her. Did she really not know? Aqua thought everyone knew.

"Oh, um –" she looked down at her food for a moment, trying to find the right way to tell her new friend her origin story. "Well, I've always had them. Since before I can remember." She just kind of shrugged and focused on her food, knowing she should continue. "Everyone who ever took me in never wanted me for long because of them." Wanda could tell there was more; against her better judgement, she chose to ask.

"I thought before you were taken in by Mr. Stark that you would go around helping people? Helping communities through drought seasons and such? Why didn't they want you?" Aqua looked up, straight into Wanda's eyes with a sad half-smile.

"Because I killed my parents."

Wanda flinched, a bit startled, and just stared at Aqua. She could tell from Aqua's sad smile that she hadn't wanted to kill her parents and that even after 15 years she felt the guilt. Aqua looked back down.

"At least, that's what I've been told. That I was maybe a year old and my powers lashed out, killing my parents, and scaring anyone in the area away from me. I was shifted from home to home, not usually staying longer than a year or two. Tony has been the only one to take me in indefinitely." A small tear fell from Aqua's eye and streamed down her face. She quickly waved her hand, pulling the tear off her face and evaporating it into non-existence.

"And I've never regretted that decision." Tony appeared behind Wanda and travelled around the counter to give Aqua a quick side hug. "Honestly, I'm not even sure what everyone is so afraid of. Bunch of wusses, if you ask me."

"I've never lost control while around you. - Are you going somewhere?" She noticed Tony had spiffed himself up a bit from his usual t-shirt and jeans.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll be back a little bit later." And Tony took off. Wanda sent a questioning look towards Aqua, but she just shrugged and continued eating her meal.

* * *

Thank you for reading! I hope to update this somewhat regularly. Let me know what you think :)


	2. Chapter 2 - The New Kid

Thank you to everyone who has read the first chapter! This is my first fanfic, so I've been a little bit nervous about posting it, but I'm excited to see where it goes. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

Aqua heard the doors to a car close, but there was one more than when Tony had left. She sat up on her couch trying to peer through her windows to see if she could see who was with Tony. She couldn't make out who it was, other than the fact she didn't recognize the boy's backside.

"Friday, who's with Tony?"

"I do recognize him, however, that information is in Mr. Stark's private files, so I canno –"

"Yeah, yeah. Show me the cameras." Aqua got up, moving to the large screen, the cameras popping up one by one, showing the boy from all angles. He was mostly average; brown hair, brown eyes, average height. Nothing looked very special, and yet he was one of the youngest people Tony had ever brought home, no older than herself. "Friday, give me some sound." A volume scroll appeared on the screen and Aqua spun it slightly.

"Listen, kid, all of this," Tony circled his finger in the air, gesturing to all of the compound, "all secret. You speak of it to no one. You talk and you're out. No more suit. No more fighting crime – Kid, you listening? Nothing." 'Kid' was looking everywhere except for Tony, much to Tony's annoyance. He kept moving forward towards the lab, whistling for Kid to follow him. Kid scurried after.

 _Suit?_ _Tony is giving him a suit? But why?_ With Tony and Kid in the lab, Aqua couldn't get a closer look or hear what they were talking about. Tony's lab was labelled as 'private' which meant Aqua couldn't access anything while not inside. She tried a couple more camera angles, but nothing gave a better view or better volume. _Maybe the pool?_ As the thought occurred, she ran out to her pool, quickly stepped in, and submerged herself, bringing herself to sit at the very bottom. The sounds immediately brightened.

 _"Here's the new one. It comes with a personal assistant and a number of safety features."_

 _"A personal assistant?"_

 _"Yep. Connected to Friday, might I add. I'll have direct access to everything you do."_

 _"So, you'll be stalking me?"_

 _"Not exactly stalking. Just keeping an eye on everything."_

 _"So, stalking."_

 _"No, just – oh, whatever. Why don't you put it on and try out a few moves? You'll need to know how to use it in case –"_

 _"In case of what? Mr. Stark?"_

 _"Just in case. – well, go on, kid. Try it out."_

Aqua brought her head above water. _Tony's giving him a suit. A suit meant for fighting._ Aqua leaned back, floating on the water's surface for some time. _I've barely been allowed to leave the compound and he's giving him a suit to fight with. Why?_ Even in the surface of the water, Aqua heard their footsteps nearing in the hallway just outside. She lifted herself and moved to exit the pool as soon as there was a knock on the door.

"Aqua? You in here?" Tony asked, stepping through the doorway. "Oh, good. I wanted you to meet the new kid." He pointed towards Kid, who was starting to push through the doorway staring at the large indoor pool.

"Woah! There's a pool?! Is it heated?!" Kid started to move towards the edge, but Tony put his arm up in front of the boy's chest and shook his head while giving the boy a look as if to say, 'don't even try it', but Aqua was already stepping out of the pool and straight passed the pair.

"Yeah, there's a pool, but not one that you get to use. This one's mine." She was upset, and it was no fault of the boy, but she couldn't stop herself from speaking bitterly. She pulled the water off her body, drying instantly as she kept walking towards her bedroom.

"Aqua, this is Peter," Tony tried gesturing towards Peter only to realize Aqua was paying no attention to him. "Peter, this –" Tony made an exasperated gesture towards her, "is Aqua." Tony stood there, confused. He had never seen her like this. She was always kind, open, and more than willing to meet new people. So, why was she being so cold?

"Aqua?" Tony started walking towards her, "Aqua." He reached for her shoulder, but she kept walking through the door into her room. "Aqua! What is going on?" He finally reached her.

"How old is he?" she asked without turning to look at her mentor. They stood there for a moment in silence. After a time, Aqua got frustrated and turned to face him.

"How old is he?" She hated being this upset over something she considered so small.

"15." She was right. He was no older than her; same age in fact. So, why was he allowed to fight and risk his life in a suit made by Tony.

"Tony, in the five years I've lived with you, you've barely let me leave. Whether it was here or at the tower." She turned slightly, closing her eyes. "So, why does he get to fight? Since the Avengers were formed, I have wanted to help. To fight. He just gets to waltz in and go directly into a fight? Why him and not me?" Tony saw the hurt. He never meant to hurt her, only to protect her. She was just a child. A child he needed to protect from the world. Lately, he had been thinking to let her experience more. She had been doing well in training with Nat and she had been showing great control in her abilities.

"When we took you in, you were ten years old with no where to go and only average control of your powers. Even now at 15, I still think you're too young." He paused and took a glance through the open door at Peter. "However, Nat says you've been doing well and you've gained great control of your powers." Tony got up and walked over to the projected screen. He tapped a few areas, "Friday, show camera 5 in the storage lab."

Aqua stood up, slowly walking over to the screen, curious as to what the camera would be showing. She stopped suddenly, in the image of the camera was an outfit not unlike Nat's jumpsuit she wore when on a mission. The bottoms were skin tight with a couple of belts for what looked like knives and the top looked to be a fit-and-flare long-sleeve that fastened just under the sternum and tapered down to the knee in the back. The entire outfit seemed to a dark navy blue, the same shade as the roots of her hair. She looked to Tony, questioning, but with excitement. He simply nodded.

"But only if you play nice and come out to meet the kid without an attitude." Aqua just rolled her eyes but moved towards Tony. He welcomed the embrace and motioned for them to leave the room. Aqua turned on her heel and out the door into the pool room. Peter was simply kneeling near the water's edge, watching the water sway just slightly. He quickly stood seeing that Tony and Aqua were walking towards him.

"Now, Aqua, this is Peter. Peter, Aqua."


	3. Chapter 3 - Getting to know each other

"Hi," Peter held out his hand and Aqua obliged by reaching out and taking it, "I-I'm Peter. But you know that because Mr. Stark just said it… Well – anyways! N-nice to meet you!" Aqua chuckled as Peter kept shaking her hand while stumbling over his thoughts and works. _Oh my lord, he's a dork… Tony brought home a dork_ , she laughed inwardly.

"Hi. I'm Aqua," he kept the shake going – and going and going. "Um, sorry about before. Tony and I had something to work out." She glanced over to Tony and he just nodded slightly. Suddenly, she noticed that Peter had finally stopped shaking her hand. Instead, he leaned in a little closer.

"You call him 'Tony'?" She looked back, giving a strange raise of her brows.

"Um, yeah? I mean, I've known him for five years now… I'm not sure why I wouldn't, or couldn't…?" She looked over to Tony, who just kind of shrugged.

"Wait, five years? But you're not an Avenger, right? I don't recognize you." Tony placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, pulling both teens' attention his way, and finally getting Peter to let go of her hand.

"She's part of the group now. Same as you. Except," Tony points to her while holding Peter's eyes, "she's got more authority than you. She's lived around the team for five years, training with them, and learning the ropes. She's also got almost complete access to Friday."

"Almost?"

"Yeah, almost. There's a pesky 'private' label that Tony can put on anything that Friday has access to. And anything labelled 'private' means that _I_ can't access it." She sent a playful glare up to Tony and placed her hand on her hip and pointed a finger, "one day. One day, I'll get access to the 'private' label."

Tony smirked and pushed her finger down, "yeah. Sure. One day…" A moment passed as Tony rolled his eyes. They all just kind of glanced at each other and burst out laughing, the earlier moment of jealousy and anger pushed away.

"So, who have you been training with?" Peter questioned, wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye.

"Depends on what kind of training you're talking about," Aqua replied, coming off her laughing high. Peter gave her a questioning glance, somehow confused. "I've trained with pretty much everyone. Nat for close combat, Clint for long-range, Steve for weight training, Bruce for science, math, and medicine, Thor for subjects beyond our world, Tony for science, math, and tech, Wanda for powers, and Pepper for cooking." She simply shrugged. "And I spar with Nat, Clint, Steve, and Wanda on an almost daily basis."

Peter looked at her, dumbfounded. How was the concept of her training with the others so hard to understand? Of course, she did. She's lived around most of them since she lived in Avengers tower, why shouldn't she train with them?

"Why don't the two of you take a turn on the mat?" Tony broke the silence. Peter looked like he was still trying to comprehend training with the Avengers. Aqua chuckled and nodded.

"I'd be down," she replied. Peter shook his head.

"A what on the what?" Aqua put her hands in a prayer position, looked towards the ceiling and just laughed while Tony placed the bridge of his nose between his pointer finger and thumb, chuckling to himself.

"A turn on the mat. As in you and I spar for a round or two." Aqua could not believe she was having to explain this.

"Oh – Oh! Yeah! That'd be awesome! When?" Tony placed his hands on their shoulders.

"Now."

* * *

"Ok. One round. No powers. Mainly close combat. No leaving the mat. No breaking bones, unless it happens to be a nose. But even then, let's try to avoid that." Tony looked to Aqua, who nodded confidently, and then to Peter, who looked a little terrified, but nodded nonetheless. "Ok. And, begin."

Aqua took a steady stance, studying Peter, trying to estimate what he'll do. She noticed his left heel move inwards just slightly, shifting his weight and beginning a lunge. He pushes off, thrusting himself towards her with his right hand pulled back, ready to land a hit. Seeing what was coming, Aqua transferred her weight, pushed Peter's now out-stretched fist to her right, shifted to her left, grabbed his wrist, slightly twisted, and brought him to the ground with his arm behind his back, placing her left leg next to his left flank and her right knee on his back.

"What the heck?" Peter mumbled. Tony chuckled and shrugged, showing the younger boy there was nothing he could do.

"Ya give?" Aqua questioned with a sly smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, I give." She released his wrist and helped him off the mat. He lightly rubbed his wrist and just stared at the mat, trying to see where he went wrong.

"Another round? Best two out of three?" He asked, not even looking up.

"Sure." Aqua shrugged, moving to the other side of the mat, readying herself for him to come again.

* * *

"How long have they been at it?" Nat asked Tony as she lightly sauntered into the training room.

"Round 15. At this point, is it even a round?" Tony wrapped one arm around his front, placed his other elbow on top of it, and placed his chin in his hand. Peter was sweating and breathing hard, clearly getting tired, while Aqua merely looked like she had gone for short jog.

"Oh, nice Aqua." As Aqua's official close combat trainer, Nat felt pride at watching Aqua fight so confidently and so well. Even if her current training partner wasn't the most trained, Aqua was doing well, keeping her movements light and quick as she accurately guessed what Peter was about to do.

"Nope," Aqua answered. "Right around round five, it turned into a training session. He's studying my moves and trying different things to bring me down." She dodged his fist again, pushing him to the side and roundhoused Peter's legs from under him. He turned over, letting himself lie there and catch his breath.

"Ouch. You ok, kid?" Tony hissed and grimaced as a sympathy pain hit him. It had been a while since he sparred with anyone, and he had been considering taking Aqua for a spin, but seeing what she was putting Peter through made Tony realize that that may be a bad idea for his older bones.

"Yup – the spar… ended a while… ago… Now, we're just… getting to know…. Each other.." Aqua chuckled and reached her hand out to help him up. Peter chuckled back, almost mockingly, and accepted her hand. Aqua patted him on the back as they moved off the mat, Peter clearly more sore than she was.

 _Yup, getting to know each other. Can't wait to learn more._


	4. Chapter 4 - You Have Family

_AN: Hello! Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story! I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out... I was traveling out of the country for school, and now I will be attending graduate school full-time starting next week, so chapters should be more consistent... consistently spaced longer apart. To make up for longer spaces of time, I will do my best to make them longer chapters. I hope you enjoy!_  
 _Thanks!_

* * *

Aqua kept a quick pace as she moved to the kitchen, intent on grabbing an ice pack or two for Peter. They had been "sparring" for almost two hours and she could tell Peter wasn't used to this level of combat training. She remembered her first few days training with Nat and Steve; they were hard and tiring, but she kept up. And she had to admit, for continuously going at it for almost two hours, she was impressed he kept up as well as he did.

She reached the freezer quickly, pulled out some ice packs, and met Peter just before he could sit down. He smiled slightly and placed one pack on his right side and the other on left shoulder blade, basically giving himself a hug. He took a seat at the kitchen island and glanced at the clock; 8:30pm. He was starving.

Aqua noticed his glance and chuckled. "You hungry?" He quickly looked up at her, confused as to how she read his mind. Tony smirked and gave Peter a painful pat on the back, earning a grimace and small moan from the bruised boy.

"You'll get used to it," Tony smiled, confusing the boy even more. Peter just gave a confused but surprised look; upon seeing it, Aqua and Tony laughed and high-fived.

"No, I cannot read minds. I could simply hear your stomach." Tony laughed a little louder at the truth in Aqua's voice.

"Whatcha makin?" Tony was a bit hungry too, the long day finally getting to him.

"Ooh, is Aqua cooking?!" Bruce excitedly hollers from the lab, just starting to leave his desk as he hurries to the kitchen.

"Wait, Aqua, are you really making something?" Wanda asks as she appears from the stairs.

"I could go for some of Aqua's cookin." Rhodes states as he walks in, tired from the mission he just got back from. Peter glanced around, amazed by how everyone just appeared from the woodworks. And all at the mention of Aqua's food. She seemed completely unfazed by everyone's interest and searched the fridge. Peter couldn't help but notice how close everyone seemed and felt thankful to be around such a group.

"Well, we've got some think flank steak. I throw together some carne asada and do some kind of burrito bar. Or we've got some stuff to make a fettuccine alfredo with some chicken." She pulls both meats from the fridge and holds them out, "your choice." A slew of suggestions and decisions came bounding from everyone in the room; everyone except for Peter. Aqua whistled and held up her full hands.

"I wasn't asking any of you. I was asking him," she motions towards Peter. "It's his first time here for dinner, so he should get to decide." Peter looked up, confused. He hadn't really been listening. "So, which is it? Steak burritos or fettuccine alfredo?" Peter pondered for a moment. He had no clue which one would be better, he had never had Aqua's cooking before.

"Umm… how about the burrito bar?" He shrugged. Tony, Wanda, and Nat threw a thumbs-up his way while Bruce and Rhodes gave a sad smile and shrugged it off.

"Cool. Now, everyone, on that side of the island or further. I'll call when it's ready." Aqua said as she shoo'd them away from her work space. She loved cooking and would pride herself in her skills. Everyone went their own ways; Bruce and Tony back to the lab, Rhodes in the direction of his room, Nat and Wanda over to the couch to flip on the TV, and Peter just sat quietly at the island. Aqua washed her hands, and pulled out a pot to start cooking rice and then moved to the cast iron to get the meat started. She glanced over at the quiet Peter, just holding himself in a hug with the ice packs, then back down to the sizzling food on the stove.

 _I went too far._

She grimaced. Her thoughts beginning to take over while her hands went on auto-pilot to cook their dinner.

 _Once again, I went too far. He's not even really one of us. I should've stopped earlier. I always –_

"So, what's your story?" Aqua snapped back to attention, surprised by Peter's voice.

"What do you mean?" She shook her head just slightly, clearing some of her earlier thoughts. Her hands and feet kept moving on auto-pilot to keep the food cooking at a good pace.

"What brought you to the Avengers? Do you live here full-time? Why or why not? How long have you known – "

"Well, to say what brought me to the Avengers would have me reveal my past, not something that should be told lightly," she mentioned, knowingly cutting off his questions, keeping her back to him while she held a sad smile on her face, "so, I'll jump to your second question. Yes, I live here full-time. That's why my rooms were built with the pool room attached. I first met Tony a little over five years ago, back before the Avengers ever existed, and I moved into Stark Tower a few months later. I've lived in the shadows of the Avengers ever since." She turned around to lean on the on the counter next to the stove, simply waiting for the rice to finish before taking things off the stove.

"That smells amazing," he gestured to the stove.

Aqua smiled and shrugged slightly. "Thanks. You actually chose the easiest of the two dishes. Once the rice is finished, I'll just do a quick stir in the skillet with some light seasoning and we're good to go. How are the ice packs?"

"Getting warm." Aqua quickly nodded her head upwards and held out her hand while moving toward the freezer. Peter tossed both packs, but his throw was a little off. It didn't matter, Aqua guided the water attached to the packs, and thus the packs themselves, to her hand and tossed them into the freezer. "Want another?"

"Neh. I think I'll be good." Peter rotated his shoulder and stretched his side. "What exactly is your talent?"

Aqua moved back to her position at the counter.

"Water."

Peter stared at her, slightly confused. "What about water?"

"I can control it. Down to the molecule." She moved her hand in front of him, pulling at the air and creating a little ball of water. "I can pull moisture in the atmosphere to form the liquid state, then I can move it," she moved the water around the two of them, bringing it back to hover over her hand, "or freeze it," the ball froze, still hovering, "or return it to the gaseous form," the ball began to steam, dissipating back into the air.

Peter stared in amazement, "the molecule? How is that even possible?"

"I don't even know that answer and it's my ability. All I know is that I have this, almost, sixth sense for water molecules. As long as there is a small bit of moisture in the air, I can sense a person's physical features and whether they're moving and in which direction. It's handy, but confusing."

"Confusing?"

"Well, yeah. I have this ability that I can't explain whatsoever. Sure, I've checked out the mutations in my genes compared to a normal human's, but they don't seem to explain how I basically defy the laws of physics." Peter raised his eyebrows in realization and agreeance while shrugging slightly. He was clearly trying to think it through, but judging by his squinting face, he was struggling for the answer as well.

"That's not all I can do."

"Oh yeah, when you got out of the pool earlier. Wouldn't that be considered moving any molecule attached to you to a gaseous state?"

"Technically, yes. But that's not what I was going to tell you about," she turned around to check the rice. It was nearly ready, but could go few a more minutes. Peter waited on bated breath, curious about what Aqua was about to tell him. She turned back around and chuckled at the sight of Peter nearly lying on the island-bar counter. "Water enhances my hearing. When I'm underwater, I can hear nearly everything happening in this facility."

Peter's eyes shown with intrigue. "Everything?"

She motioned for him to calm down, "almost everything. Some of the furthest parts can be a bit faint, but with some decent concentration, I can figure it out."

"But to listen to an entire conversation, you'd have to be underwater for a pretty long time." He paused. Aqua encouraged the moment of thought, willing him to figure it out. "Wait – you can't breathe underwater, can you?!"

 _Well, exaggeration is better than underestimation._

Aqua chuckled and shrugged. "Not quite 'breathe', but I can circulate the oxygen within the water and use it for myself." Peter gasped and nearly jumped out of his seat. "But only in natural water. None of that chlorine crap that everyone puts in their pools. There's too much chemicals in the water for me to be able to circulate the oxygen for myself."

Peter stared at Aqua, clearly trying to find an explanation for her abilities.

 _Good luck._

Aqua checked the rice again, seeing it was just about ready, and grabbed the skillet to fry it.

"Enough about me. What about you?"

"I'm a bit more explainable. I have enhanced senses and strength due to being bitten by a radioactive spider. I then designed an outfit to help a bit with aerodynamics and identity protection and created the compound that is now my webbing."

Aqua turned on her heel. "A radioactive spider? That's more explainable than mutated genes allowing me to control water?"

"Say that sentence one more time and then think about how I have a singularity that caused my abilities."

 _He's not wrong. To this day I don't how or why I have my power. I don't even know for sure if my parents had powers._

She shrugged and turned back to the food finishing on the stove. She gave some big stirs to the rice as well as the other food on the stove.

"It's a pretty nice family you've got here."

Aqua snapped straight.

"This isn't exactly a family," her head sagged a little. "Well, they are. Not me."

Peter watched her quietly finish the warming food on the stove and chopping the vegetables.

"Friday, send a notification to the others that dinner is ready."

"Sure thing, Aqua."

They were silent as Aqua moved bowls and pans to the island counter, creating the taco bar Peter had chosen. Nat, Wanda, Rhodes, Bruce, and Tony arrived not too long after the notification had been sent, ready to dig in. Peter reached for her hand, quietly saying "I don't think that's true," and motioned to the others, who rummaged around each other and all sat around the table, saving places for Aqua and Peter.


	5. Chapter 5 - Why?

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get another chapter uploaded, but I did warn you. Grad school has been kickin' my butt, but I believe I'll make it and that I will be able to continue writing this story. Also, I keep getting the html problem so many other authors are getting, so if you see anything in my chapters, please let me know so that I can get it out. I do my best to check before posting, but an extra pair of eyes is always helpful. Thank you to everyone who has read this! I look forward to your reviews and constructive criticism! Enjoy!

* * *

 _*Gasp*_

Aqua woke from her sleep with a jolt as her phone vibrated and the holographic screen materialized revealing Tony.

"Aqua! Aqua, I need you awake." Aqua took some steadying breaths. She couldn't remember what her dream was about, but she knew it wasn't just Tony calling her that caused her to startle. "Aqua? You okay?"

Aqua looked up, "yeah. Yeah, I'm good. What's going on?"

"Steve has finally lost it and is making a move in Germany. I've got the kid. Will you keep an eye on the facility? Just in case any of the others decide to go there?"

"Yeah – wait, what?!" Aqua realized what Tony was doing. "You want me to just stay here while you're fighting in Europe?"

"Aqua, you know that out of most of us, you have some of the closest relationships with those siding with Cap. I can't put you in the middle of that."

"Me?! What about all of you?" Aqua moved out of bed, grabbing clothes from her closet. "You were friends before I ever joined the fray. You – "

"You know that's not entirely true. You and I met over five years ago, before the original six of us got together to fight in New York. As everyone has added, you've gotten closer, too. Don't try and say you haven't. What if you had to fight Wanda? Huh?"

"But Tony," Aqua stood there, thinking. She couldn't just sit at the compound, waiting to see who might have won, if there would even be a winner. She didn't want to imagine needing to fight the others, especially Wanda. The two of them had gotten so close, others in the facility began asking if they were sisters. But since she had left the compound to join Steve, their relationship began to slip; Wanda wanted freedom, Aqua wanted to help invisibly. Not to mention her thing with Vis that began taking her attention as well. "Why is this happening?" She dropped her clothes on her bed.

"Cap made a decision. A stupid one. But I want to try to reason with him as much as possible."

Aqua sat on the bed, "is that why you're taking Peter? To try and reason with Steve and the others?"

"The kid is coming as a precaution. He'll come in handy if we do end up fighting." Aqua shook her head. There had to be a better way, she just couldn't think of one right then.

"Just be careful. Don't get hurt. Don't hurt the others. Tell Peter to be careful, too. He hasn't responded to any of my texts recently."

"You and Pete text? Since when?"

"Since you first brought him to the facility." She blushed a little, but not enough for Tony to notice through the image in his glasses.

"I'm going to ignore the implications of that for now. I'm not ready for that talk." There was a pause, though the silence spoke a thousand words. "Look, just in case, your suit is in locker A7. There should be a couple of pilots on standby if I were to need you over here."

Aqua nodded softly, knowing he would probably never call on her for something like this.

"Stay safe." She murmured.

"No guarantees." And the holographic screen disappeared.

* * *

Aqua checked the display with the tracking system often, making sure their colors never left green or yellow for orange or red. The moment she saw orange or red, she would be on a jet. So far, there wasn't too much action. She wasn't even sure a fight had started yet.

 _*buzz … buzz*_

Aqua looked to her phone to see a text from Peter; he must have finally gotten service from Tony.

 _Peter: So far, so good. Not really sure why I'm here._

 _Aqua: Just stay alert. You may have Nat, but Cap's got Clint._

 _Peter: Will do. Happy said you're not coming?_

 _qua: Yeah, Tony has me as a last resort. Says he doesn't want to involve me due to my relationships with the others. But I'm on standby. The minute I see someone get hurt, I'm heading over._

 _Peter: *typing*_

 _Five minutes later: *still typing*_

 _Aqua: What? You sending me a novel?_

 _Ten minutes later_

 _Aqua: Peter?_

Aqua looked up and suddenly the dots are moving quickly back and forth across the screen. So far, only two green dots had turned yellow, meaning very minor injuries; the most they'll become are bruises.

"Friday, unlock A7."

"Sure thing, Aqua."

Aqua moved the large screen down to her watch so that she could keep an eye on things while sent went to retrieve her suit. She wanted to be ready.

As she moved through hallways to the suit storage, Aqua kept a close eye on the trackers. Four more green dots turned yellow. So far, no orange or red, so she was okay for now. As she entered the suit storage, her suit moved upwards from its case. She took it from the mannequin and quickly walked back to her room to change.

"Friday, who are the pilots on standby?"

"For which jet, Aqua?"

"Probably the Quin. It's the fastest."

"Looks like Agents Dawson and Marefield are on standby for the QuinJet. Would you like me to notify them that you are taking off?"

Aqua finished pulling her jacket over arms and clasped the front, then clipped her tool belt across her waist. "No, not yet, but perhaps notify them that I will want to take off as soon as I give the signal."

"Sure thing."

She glanced back at the trackers. Then she gasped. Three of the yellow dots had turned orange. And one was Peter.

"Friday, I'm giving the signal. I'm heading up now."

* * *

Even with the Quinjet, it would take more than three hours for Agents Dawson and Marefield to get Aqua to Germany. About half way through, she noticed there were no more green dots and three more yellow dots turn orange. She was beginning to really stress. These were her friends, or as Peter had been starting to tell her, her family. And her family was hurting each other. She paced, trying to keep her mind from what could be happening on the ground.

"Pacing isn't going to get us there any fast, you know." Dawson kept a light tone, knowing Aqua was on edge and knowing it wasn't a good idea to start something when she was on edge.

"Just trying to occupy myself," she said absentmindedly. "You just focus on getting us there as fast as possible."

Dawson and Marefield shook their heads slightly and chuckled. They'd known Aqua for a while now and figured she was over-exaggerating a little. Dawson nodded to Marefield, who pushed the gear up one more level, getting scarily close to maximum speed, which they were to never use unless the world depended on them. Dawson looked back to Aqua expectedly, to which Aqua replied with a thankful nod and continued to pace.

* * *

Aqua had finally decided to sit and wait out the rest of the flight, keeping careful watch as nine of the twelve dots were now orange. Dawson and Marefield were in communication with German airspace, which meant they would be landing soon.

"Aqua, they're giving us five minutes to drop you. Be ready," Dawson called from the co-pilot seat. Aqua unbuckled herself and readied herself for the jump. She knew Marefield would get her as close to the ground as possible, but she also knew that five minutes wasn't a ton of time and wouldn't be enough to get close to land and then get out of the airspace. She moved to the back and waited for Dawson to open the dock. The watch with the hologram tracking system started flashing at her; one dot was red.

"Dawson! Open it! Now!" Aqua was frantic. She couldn't even focus to see who the red dot belonged to, and who was hurt so badly that the tracking system was sending such an alert. She turned to yell again when the dock opened. It was a larger drop than expected, but she would be okay. She nodded her thanks and jumped.


	6. Chapter 6 - Split

Aqua flew through the air, using the moisture in the atmosphere to slow herself down. The moment her feet hit the ground, she took off searching for Tony and Peter, hoping they weren't the red dot on the tracking system. She quickly realized that she landed a decent length away from the airport, but using the trackers, she ran parallel to the building and straight towards the trackers. A glance to her left changed her trajectory.

"Peter!" He was sitting on the cement, rubbing his head and glancing in her direction.

"Aqua?" He began to push himself up, trying to stand. Aqua reached him and sat him back down. "Aqua, what are you doing here? I thought you were worst case scenario. Don't tell me things are worse than I thought."

Aqua grabbed his hands, hoping that by keeping them toward the ground they would keep him toward the ground. "It's not. Not that I know of. Several of you switched to a higher concern of injury and I told you the moment any of you were hurt then I would be on my way."

"Oh yeah. Is the fight over?" Looking around seemed to answer; the field seemed silent. Aqua looked down at her tracker, noting that the red dot was not Peter, and looked to the direction the tracker was pointing. Tony was kneeling, but he didn't look "red alert" hurt either. She looked back to Peter.

"I'll help you up as long as we walk somewhat slowly, k?" She looked at him expectedly. He thought for a second and then nodded slightly. Aqua stood up and held out her hands for him to take. He stood slowly, swayed a bit at the top, but steadied himself somewhat quickly. Aqua placed herself under his right arm and they began walking towards Tony; Aqua still couldn't tell who was next to him.

"Aqua, I'm good. I can see the flashing red lights coming from your watch. We can walk faster." Aqua stayed silent for a moment, trying to keep herself composed, but glad that it didn't appear either of her closest people were severely injured. After a moment, she nodded, quickening the pace a little. The closer they got, the more stressed she became. Until she saw him.

"Rhodes!" Aqua slipped out from Peter's arm and raced towards Tony and Rhodes, who was lying on the ground, not moving, barely breathing.

Tony blinked, just realizing who had appeared next to him. "Aqua? What are you doing here? I told you to stay at the facility."

"Never mind that. Have you called emergency?" She quickly touched some areas of Rhodes body, trying to find any protruding bones. The male human body was about 60% water, it wouldn't be hard for her to find out the extent of his injuries. She found some internal bleeding and plenty of places that will bruise heavily, but there was one injury that caught her attention.

"Tony, he needs help and he needs it now." She looked up at him. He nodded.

"I've called emergency they should be here soon. Though I'd like to meet them half way, if possible – " He began to reach for his friend. Aqua quickly put her arm up, blocking Tony from even touching his friend.

"Don't! We can't move him. We just need to wait for emergency and make sure he doesn't stop breathing from any internal bleeding."

"Can't you stop any bleeding?" Looking worriedly towards her, watching her work. He just noticed Peter had walked up behind him, listening in to the conversation.

"Only to a point. I can't just plainly stop the bleeding, but I can make the area around a cut colder, causing the blood to clot faster. Obviously, this can cause a bit of a problem when the bleed is internal." Tony nodded, though Aqua wasn't looking to see it. She kept her hands on Rhodes, continuing to check for injuries. Peter's attention snapped up as he heard the emergency sirens come in range.

"Aqua – " She nodded, but kept her head down.

"They're close, Mr. Stark."

"Great. I'll go flag them down. Stay with Aqua, just in case she needs you." Peter nodded and moved closer to Aqua.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I hope so. We just have to be careful."

"There's another injury that we can't see, isn't there? What is it?"

With the ambulance much closer, Aqua just silently shook her head.

"Not now." Peter nodded and motioned for the paramedics. One hopped out and rushed towards Aqua and Rhodes while two others piled out of the truck.

"Kannst du mir sagen was passiert ist?" The paramedic looked to Peter and then to Aqua. With her hands still softly on Rhodes, she shook her head.

"I'm sorry. Ich kann kein Deutsch. Englisch?"

The paramedic turned to her and smiled softly. "Yes. Can you tell me what happened?"

She looked up to Peter, who shook his head slightly.

"I can't. I don't know. But I can tell you his injuries." The medic nodded, encouraging her to continue. She focused back to Rhodes, reassessing what she felt.

"Internal bleeding. Three cracked ribs. Concussion." She could tell Tony was getting close. She didn't want to be the one to tell him, but she had no choice now. "And a fractured lumbar vertebra." Tony stopped in his tracks, hearing Aqua list an injury that would change his friend's life forever. Aqua glanced up, apologetically, and then back to the paramedic. "We need to be extremely careful when moving him."

The paramedic focused on Rhodes from that point on. The other paramedics joined with all the necessary instruments to checks his vitals and preparation to move Rhodes to the ambulance. Aqua found the emergency switch that released and opened the suit so that the paramedics had access and then moved herself away.

She liked Rhodes. Loved him, even. He was part of the family that Peter had convinced her she had. She hated knowing that his life would probably never be the same, if he made it through the internal injuries. She tucked her arms into herself, trying to hold her somber feelings inside. She glanced over to Tony, who looked as if he could break at any moment, but only in the way the Aqua or Pepper could tell. To Peter, Tony probably just looked concerned and maybe a little pissed off.

Aqua sighed, straightened herself, and began to walk towards Tony, but suddenly, she remembered Peter, whom she had found with a somewhat mild concussion. She spun around but didn't find him. She began to panic when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She jumped a little, only to realize it was Peter and he was pulling her into his arms. She relaxed into him.

"I'm okay."

She pulled away slightly, "you were the first one to go orange…" She reached up, "how's your head?"

He held her hand down. "It's alright. Hurts a bit, but I'll be okay."

She leaned back into him.

"I thought I almost lost you," she whispered.

"I – "

"Guys, lets move to the jet and head back. The others were already arrested." Tony interrupted. Peter and Aqua nodded and pulled away from each other.

"Barnes and Cap?" Aqua asked. Tony just shook his head.

"Took off." Tony moved closer to her, putting an arm around her back. "Don't worry. I'll find them."

She nodded and moved between the two to board the jet. Nat was already preparing for take-off. Aqua looked back to the field questioningly. There were 12 people on the field originally; Nat, Peter, Rhodes, Vision, and the African king (T'Challa is Aqua remembered correctly) had fought with Tony, yet Aqua only saw the three she was with left. She knew where Rhodes was, but what about the other two?

"Where are Vision and the king?" Peter had taken a seat towards the back, his hand holding his head. Aqua moved to him, placing a chilled hand where he was holding, hoping it would help. As Tony turned to her, she noticed him holding his wrist. With a gesture, a thin layer of cold water wrapped around his wrist. Tony nodded his thanks and continued walking to the front of the jet.

"I'm not sure what happened to T'Challa, but Vision took off after what happened to Rhodey."

"Why?"

"Vision was the one who shot Rhodey down." Aqua's eyes widened with a gasp.

"Why would he – "

"It was an accident. He was aiming for Sam, but he got… distracted."

"Distracted? But –" That's when her brain made the connection: Wanda. "Oh."

"Yeah. I've got a tracker on him, of course, but I just don't want to go into that right now." Aqua nodded. Tony clearly didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she dropped the conversation and returned her attention to Peter.

He was looking better after sitting with a cold hand to his head. Seeing her worried expression, Peter pulled her closer.

"I know it's dumb to say 'don't worry', cause I know you'll worry anyways, but it'll be okay."

Aqua sighed. "Remember all that time you spent convincing me I have a family? Well, that family is now split up. Some are being arrested. Some just left. I –" Peter placed a finger on her lips.

"I'll never leave." She sat there, a little stunned, but a thin, worried smile spread across her face. She relaxed into his hold once again.

Tony looked back at them, swearing to himself to never put Peter in danger like that again and to restrict a little more of Aqua's access within the compound. They were too important. And he could never make the same promise that Peter had just made to Aqua.


	7. Chapter 7 - Trust

With Rhodes in recovery, everyone went back to a routine that suited them and the situation. Everyone except Tony. When they landed in New York, he had Peter stay for a couple of days to get checked out and told both him and Aqua to stay put. He never once told them where he was going, but Aqua had a pretty good idea. He had wanted a chance to talk with Cap, so he was probably off looking for him.

He never said anything to her, but she found out quickly what he had done: he restricted her access. It started small. Aqua would try to access a couple of cameras near Rhodes' room in the infirmary, but was shut out. She figured Tony just wanted Rhodes to have some privacy, though why he restricted Aqua, she wasn't quite sure. It was a few days later when she tried to get access to some more dangerous training equipment, things she would train with every day even without some sort of supervision, that she realized her restriction was much more extensive than she realized.

"What's going on?" Peter had found her arguing with the AI.

"Friday won't let me into some of the training equipment." She stated, looking confused and a little upset. She needed to figure what was going on. She began moving toward her room.

"Hey, maybe Mr. Stark just wants everyone to take a break? I don't think we should worry about it." Peter was sweet, but he didn't know how the compound ran. Aqua was allowed to train whenever she wanted and with whatever she wanted, the only exception being access to bows and arrows without Clint and chemicals in Bruce's lab. She gave him soft smile but continued in her quest.

"You can follow if you want, but I'm going to figure this out." Peter nodded and took her hand, sticking to her pace as she led him towards her rooms. Those who saw them holding hands gave them some kind of smirk or smile and went about their business. Aqua blushed a little with each face they encountered, but Peter didn't seem to notice.

Once in Aqua's room, they both moved to her desk. She quickly pulled up the interface.

"Friday, pull up access identifiers."

"Sorry, Aqua. You no longer have access to the information." Aqua stood there, dazed. She stared at the screen that had bright red lettering – _ACCESS DENIED_. She looked down to the desk, her thoughts running wild. _Why did Tony change my access? Why wouldn't he tell me about it?_

"Aqua?" Peter was looking back and forth between her and the display, a concern littering his face. "What's going on?"

Aqua turned and began pacing.

"Aqua?" No reply. She didn't even really hear him./

"Aqua!?" He took her arm and her head snapped up. "What is going _on_?"

She stared at him and thought for a moment longer. Peter moved his hand from her arm to her hand, causing her to through a questioning look downwards, but it slowly turned into a smile. She looked back up, but her smile had diminished as her eyes met Peter's. She squeezed his hand and moved to her desk once again.

"Tony restricted my access." She tapped a few areas, trying to get to another section of the interface. "When he set me up and told me about the access I would have - teaching me everything I should access, everything I could access but maybe shouldn't, and everything I couldn't access – he said he would only take it away from me if I ever did something untrustworthy and we talked about what would be taken away. But –" there were couple of tears in her eyes, but not enough to fall.

"I'm sure that you haven't done anything that Mr. Stark wouldn't talk to you about. It's been less than a week since Germany and the access thing just happened. There has to be something else going on. What if the higher-ups are making him change things? Or maybe there's some kind of observation happening, and Tony is hiding the fact that you have the access by restricting it for a couple of days and you've just never realized it happening in the past?"

Aqua chuckled. _His ability of rational imagination is amazing._ She turned to him, a small smile evident, and just shook her head.

"We both know I would have noticed that." She tapped the display's power and began moving toward her bedroom.

"Aqua, release the breath." She stopped, looking back. Peter brought his shoulders up with a breath and then dropped them as he exhaled, motioning for her to do the same. She hadn't realized how tense she was. After repeating the motion until she performed it as well, Peter walked over to her, pulling her into a surprising, but cathartic, hug.

"I'm gonna take some time, go for a swim, maybe take a nap. I'll see you later?" Her words were spoken into his shoulder, but he heard it all the same. He nodded and released her from his embrace. Aqua made her way through her office door, heading toward her pool.

Peter watched her walk away. He turned toward the empty area that the display appears in, then made a determined walk out of Aqua's room, on a mission of own.

* * *

Tony was in his lab when Peter stormed in, only to faulter just slightly at the sight of him. He was sporting bruises, cuts, and a black eye that Peter knew weren't there when they left Germany. With Peter stopped in his doorway, Tony raised his good eyebrow questioningly.

"What can I do for ya, kid?"

Peter straightened himself and took a deep breath, beginning to walk forward.

"It's about Aqua, isn't it?" Peter stopped again, clearly confused, but realization hit as this entire thing was started with Tony. Peter began walking again.

"Yeah, it is." Tony looked back at his work, wincing at the pain some movements caused.

"Well, where is she? Why isn't she here?"

"She's having a rough time of it. See, the person who trusted her suddenly took away the sign of that trust, except the person hasn't told her why, making her think she's done something so wrong she's not deserving of an explanation from the person she has trusted most."

The word-vomit surprised even Peter as it poured out of him, leaving both of them quiet and tense. Tony's forehead creased as he tried to comprehend everything that had just been said. He had been planning on restricting Aqua's access, however, because he was off fighting with Rogers and finding out Barnes had killed his mom, he had put it on a to do list. Friday must have completed it for him. But here was Peter, the kid he never thought would question him or defy him, standing up for Aqua. Tony debated just taking on the blame and see what Peter would do or say for her.

"What do you know about this?"

"Well, Aqua told me that her access came with trust and that if you were ever going to take away access you would talk with her first about what would be taken away." Peter had moved closer, getting caught up in his speech. Tony got weirdly annoyed when the kid started to pace. "Except, clearly you haven't talked to her because she was almost crying just looking at a display that glared red with _Access Denied_ written across it. But we both know she wouldn't cry in front of someone, let alone me, so she asked to be alone for a while."

They both went quiet for a bit. Tony felt like shit. He should have talked with her before leaving or postponing everything to when he got back, which was his original idea, but sometimes Friday takes things into her own hands and completes any tasks that she can for Tony.

"Look, kid, you're not entirely caught up on how things happen around here. And this is one of those things that you probably shouldn't be involved in. What I will tell you is that Aqua is like a daughter to me; I've practically raised her. What access I decide to give her or take away is on me. Not her and definitely not you. I will handle this." At the end, Tony made a 'shooing' motion, meant to be a sign for Peter to leave, but he just crossed his arms and stood his ground. There wasn't going to be an easy out on this one.

* * *

Aqua had decided to float in the pool for a while. She didn't want to hear what was happening in the compound, so she couldn't sit at the bottom like she usually loved to do.

 _Why didn't Tony talk to me? What did I do? Is it happening – are they slowly getting rid of me? Was the suit just a teaser? What is going on?_

Her thoughts were running wild, all circling around her fear of Tony getting rid of her or her not being good enough to stay. Tears were running from her eyes into the pool; she could feel the two solutions mixing and she tried to focus on that. But her thoughts wouldn't let her.

She began to close herself off, putting up a wall. What she hadn't realized was that a physical wall of ice was beginning to form in response to her emotional wall. It grew from the edges of the pool and moved outwards and up the walls, locking everything in place. The doors to her living room and bedroom were locked open while the door leading to the main hallway was frozen shut. Physical manifestations were rare, but if her emotions were strong enough, they could do a lot of damage.

The ice muffled the sound of some knocking on the door, and since Aqua was laying on the top of the water her hearing was average, not registering someone trying to get in. She didn't move as the door was roughly thrown open, just barely breaking the ice covering the hinges. She turned to her side as Tony gave his thanks to the guy who had helped him open the door. Tony carefully made his way to the pool, trying not to slip as he took his phone from his pocket and his watch/communicator from his wrist to join Aqua in the pool.

He walked right up to her and brushed her hair from her face.

"What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything."

"You promised we would talk if I ever did something and you wanted to take away access. But you didn't talk to me. You just took it away."

"Are you really that upset about losing access?"

"No. I'm upset because you always we would talk, and I would have to lose a portion of your trust in order for this to happen. But I don't know what I've done, and you haven't talk to me about it, so now I'm just lost, and my imagination is running wild with everything I've done to lose your trust. And –"

"Shhh. Breathe. Can I say something?"

Aqua nodded.

"You didn't do anything untrustworthy. I simply felt like you had a little bit more than maybe you were really ready for. I had put it on my to-do list for when I got back, but it looks like Friday had taken the job on herself. I took a look at what Friday restricted and she took away more than I had planned. And I was going to talk to you before I did it, but again, I was gone, and Friday decided to do it herself."

"You just randomly decided that I had a little too much? And put it on a to-do list?"

"Well, it was the incident with Germany that triggered the thought. I feel that, for a 15-year-old, you shouldn't have been able to command the pilots to fly you to Germany without my full consent. Your access allows that to happen, though. So, I want to reign in some of those types of access. Like I said, Friday took away a lot more than I was planning. And yes, I put it on a to-do list. Sorry to say, but this whole Cap and Barnes thing was a little more important that restricting your access, but I also didn't want to forget. I wasn't expecting Friday to do anything on that to-do list."

"So, you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not." Tony motioned for her to sit up. She did and lowered herself a bit into the water, bringing herself to eye level with Tony. "I promised back then that we would talk, and I promise to do that in the future as well. You're just too important to me to allow you free-reign. Okay?"

Aqua nodded. She understood then what had happened. She still felt weary about it, but she would try to believe him. Tony pulled her face closer to his and gave a small kiss on her forehead.

"Come on. Let's unfreeze the room, get out of the pool, and dry off. Peter heads home today."

Aqua gave a small smile. She took the ice from the walls and doors, made stairs for both of them to use, and once out the pool, dried them both. Peter was waiting outside her door, stuff in hand. Aqua gave him a hug, which he returned. Tony grabbed Peter's suitcase, allowing the teens to walk hand in hand to the front entrance where Happy was waiting for Tony and Peter.


	8. Chapter 8 - Unnoticed

_Peter: Hey Beautiful. Have you seen Mr. Stark or Happy? I can't get a hold of them…_

 _Aqua: I mean, I've seen them. Haven't had the biggest chance to talk to them. Especially Happy._

 _Peter: I've been leaving Happy messages. But he hasn't been calling me back. Feelin' pretty lonely over here._

 _Aqua: Oh, I doubt that. Just continue your daily life._

 _Peter: Just continue my daily life? My daily life has kind of changed…_

 _Aqua: Just keep going to school. Keep up on your homework. Keep texting me "good morning" and "good night". Or all throughout the day. I really don't mind the texts._

 _Peter: Well of course I'm going to text you. But what about any missions? The Avengers?_

 _Aqua: …You do realize the Avengers are kind of split up right now…. Right? Any missions have been solo missions. That doesn't mean put yourself in danger. I don't want to see_ Spider-Man Dies Fighting Criminals _on the news…_

 _Peter: You won't. I'm just "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man". Nothing more._

 _Aqua: And nothing less. … How was your day today?_

 _Karen: Are you sure you wish for me to not tell her?_

 _Peter: WTH… Ignore Karen. I'm not sure what's going through her OS._

 _Aqua: Tell me what?_

 _Peter: Don't worry about it. It's nothing._

 _Aqua: Peter. Tell me what?_

 _Peter: I said it's nothing. Just, if you get the chance, will you let Mr. Stark and Happy know that I'd like to talk and I'm ready at any point for an assignment._

 _Aqua: Um… yeah… … What aren't you telling me?_

 _Peter: Hey, I'll talk to you later. Something came up down here. Have a good night!_

"What the hell is that about…?" Aqua couldn't help her thoughts from coming out.

"What is what about?" Tony was sitting on the other side of the couch. It was movie night, but Aqua wasn't too interested in the current film.

"Oh, uh… I just – nothing." Aqua looked back down at her phone for a second before flipping it over and leaving it in her lap, turning her attention back to the tv.

Tony glanced over, not oblivious to her shift in attitude. "Is that Peter?"

Aqua glanced back, a little nervous to try to delve into a conversation. She took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah. Says he's been trying to get a hold of you."

Tony sighed. "That can't be all you guys talk about. There has to be something else you guys talk about."

"Well of course not. Actually, Karen interrupted our texts with 'are you sure you don't want me to tell her?' and Peter just tried to brush it off. Emphasis on _tried_. Is Karen even supposed to be able to do that?"

"Depends on what was happening at the moment. I haven't released full functionality, but there are some basic things that Peter can customize." Tony paused realizing what he was saying. "Wait. Karen? Who is Karen?"

 _Shit… wasn't supposed to mention that…_ Aqua could feel Tony boring holes in her face, waiting for her answer.

"Aqua, Peter shouldn't have access to the AI. So, who is Karen and how is she able to interfere with texting in the suit?"

"Well… Karen is a person who always needs help from Spider-Man. They were probably talking when he was chatting with me through the suit and her sentence got caught be the voice tracker." She felt confident in her lie, but also knew that now that Tony had an inclination that Peter had access to more than he was supposed to, he was going to be checking anyways.

"Are you lying to me? You better not be lying to me. I can accept you keeping something from me, but lying is a different story, young lady." Aqua could feel her guilt rising, both for lying to Tony and for somewhat spilling the beans on Peter. She finally sighed.

"Okay, fine. I'm lying, but I can tell you that I don't know how he gained access." She got up and put her phone in her pocket. "I'm going to go out for a walk."

"Ok. Thank you for telling me the truth. Be sure to turn your sound on. And don't be too late; we've got dinner plans." Aqua gave a thumbs up and began to walk out of the room, heading for a door to take her outside. Since Tony had taken away some of her access, the best way to find things out or clear her mind was to go for a walk outside.

The day was beautiful. It was cool and some clouds hung in the sky. Birds were flying cheerfully; Aqua whistled a tune similar to their own, making them flutter happily passed her. The ground was still damp from the shower the day before, but not enough to deter Aqua from heading to the woods surrounding the compound. There was rustling in the brush, but she kept herself quiet as she made her way through, heading for a clearing she knew well. The rain had left an amazing freshness to the air, giving Aqua a calm sensation that eased any tension she had gained from Peter's texts.

As Aqua came into the clearing, she only felt peace, and though she promised herself she wasn't going to think about Peter's texts, her thoughts automatically moved in that direction. As she laid down, she felt the damp grass begin to soak her clothes, and let her thoughts wash over her. What was he not telling her? Why couldn't he tell her? Was it something she had done? Was he going to leave her? Something just wasn't right.

And how was Karen able to send a text even though she was clearly talking to Peter herself? She controls the voice-to-text parameters, which means it should be setup that only Peter's voice will get moved to the text before being sent.

Aqua could've looked into it if Tony hadn't restricted her access. If Tony had 100% access, Aqua had probably 80% access before. Now, she was down to 60%. Less than some Avengers, more than the average soldier. Still less than she was used to, and it was proving to make things a little frustrating. With more access, there were so many things she could help with or occupy herself with. Since the restriction, she had begun to take more time going outside, being in the forest, and talking with Peter.

Suddenly, Aqua felt the air shift. She sat up, searching around, realizing she had trapped herself in the middle of the clearing with no way to hide without flat-out running. She didn't see anything, or anyone, so she slowly got to her feet, keeping herself low to the ground, and materialized a ring of sharp icicles. She side-stepped her way to the edge of the clearing only to suddenly bump into something just behind her. She hadn't felt its presence or a disturbance in the atmosphere, which scared her. She quickly pushed off from the ground in the direction she had been facing, trying to get away from whatever was behind her.

"You are interesting, little one." She turned to find a large humanoid towering at the edge of the clearing, his booming voice overtaking her thoughts. His skin was a vibrant purple and he held a brilliant gold glove on his left hand. "You are not like others of this world."

Aqua kept quiet. If it wasn't so obvious, she would have already sent an alert on her communicator, warning Tony and the others that something was happening. If she had the same level of access, she could have said three simple words, but no. By trying to protect her, he had now made it even more dangerous. So instead, she kept her hands in the fighting ready-position and materialized more ice, trying to plan how to protect herself.

"You're a little older than what I would usually prefer, however, you will be beneficial to me. Especially with your powers." The giant gave a wide grin.

Aqua's brain couldn't quite keep up. At first, she was only thinking of escape, but soon after the giant finished speaking, her thoughts went from confused to realization to fear. And her face matched her inner panic. The giant grinned wider before closing his gloved fist, leaving the clearing empty and peaceful once again; the only signs of life being the animals that made that forest their home.


	9. Chapter 9 - Real

_Hello readers! I apologize for the long hiatus. Grad school took total control of me and I just lost time in writing this chapter. I hope to have the next out sooner, but we'll have to see._

 _Thank you for all of the views and to those who have reviewed. I always welcome the feedback as I hope to use it to make the story better. I look forward to more!_

 _I hope you all enjoy this_ chapter!

* * *

"There is an intruder on the grounds."

Tony shot up at Friday's alert.

"Where?! Can you get an id?"

"I cannot identify; however they are near Aqua."

"What do you mean?!" Tony ran for an exit, activating his suit. His scanners were already working by the time he was hovering above the compound, though nothing was showing up.

"The intruder does not appear to be human. Please turn to the south woods."

As he did, two shapes appeared on his display. One was labeled with Aqua's name; the other, however, was much larger and moving closer to Aqua. Tony immediately shot in the direction of the clearing. He was nearly half-way there when the shapes disappeared from his display. He stopped abruptly, turning to scan the grounds.

 _They can't have just disappeared. Which way did they go?_

"Friday?" Concern and fear were laced in his voice.

"I can't find them, Boss."

"Track her communicator."

"I'm trying, Boss, but it appears to be too far for me to track."

Tony hovered, confused. In conjunction with the world governments, Tony was allowed to track anyone with a communicator as a part of the Sokovia Accords, anywhere across the world. All he needed was Friday's interface. As long as the communicator was on Earth, Friday was able to track it.

As long as the communicator was on Earth.

"Keep trying, Friday. They couldn't have just disappeared."

"I will, Boss."

Tony headed to the clearing, looking for any clues as to what happened. All he found was a circle of icicles on the ground, as if they had fallen from the air.

* * *

Aqua landed in a cavernous hall, seemingly made of dark metal; her senses thrown off entirely. The air was missing some essential moisture, giving her the clue that she was no longer in Earth's atmosphere. She cautiously looked around, keeping herself low. The purple giant was no longer next to her, though she could hear voices coming from somewhere in the hall.

Trying to stand, she faltered and hastily reached for the wall, falling to the floor. She took a moment on the floor, steadying herself on her hands and knees with as deep breaths as she could manage in the thin air.

"Well, well. A little weak in the knees, are we?"

Aqua jumped up and stumbled backwards till she finally hit the wall. The being in front of her, though not as tall as the purple giant, still stood several feet taller than herself. Slim and powerful, its skin seemed to shine as a light blue or purple with horns that twisted up from its temples. The voice had a feminine ring to it and there was a slight femininity to its stance.

"Congratulations," the being turned with a motion to follow, "you are now a daughter of Thanos."

Aqua stayed where she was, both out of cautious habit to not do everything she was told, and out of breath.

"Follow."

Aqua stood her ground. She didn't even move closer to the wall; she just didn't move.

The being turned to look back, not surprised at Aqua's bravery for defying the order, but certainly not happy.

Aqua stood strong. She used every bit of courage and stubbornness she could muster to not move; not even flinch. She pulled on her training with Nat, Clint, Steve – even Tony. She would not break. She locked her eyes on the pair in front of her.

The being moved toward Aqua, fully intent on delivering a blow.

"Proxima Midnight."

The being stopped mid step, hand still in the air. Aqua flinched at the booming voice that came from in front of her and turned to see the purple giant. The giant came up to the being – who Aqua now knew to be Proxima Midnight – placed his hand on its shoulder, and slightly shook his head.

"Thanos," Proxima Midnight sighed, "Father. You've chosen a defiant one. The older the child, the more defiant of our ways they become."

"That is usually why I adopt so young. However, I came upon her in a field, all alone, and so full of strength. I could not pass up the opportunity."

Thanos let go of Proxima Midnight and turned more, fully, to Aqua. Once again, she didn't move.

"Please excuse Proxima, it has been some time since she has gained a sister." Thanos paused, possibly waiting for Aqua to say something, but she didn't. "What is your name, child?"

Aqua was silent. Proxima visibly tensed, as if to punish Aqua for her silence. Thanos simply raised his hand and continued.

"I don't think this opposition is out of fear, so why do you defy me? Do you see it as the ultimate courage? Or do you feel that if you were to speak, or move, you would reveal your fear?"

Nat had trained Aqua to never show fear, even in what would seem to be a hopeless situation, and she did so, well. Aqua kept her stance and eyes defiant, willing herself to not give up. To not let this – _thing_ – get to her. It didn't help that her senses were still dead because of the thin air, but she held as strong as she could.

"Hmm… Whatever shall we do?" he asked as he glanced to Proxima Midnight. He began moving toward Aqua again, reaching toward her.

She broke.

She took a step backwards hitting the wall once again when she felt a sharp pinch near the back of her neck. When she reached up, the object was gone, and she began to feel her head become heavy. Her sight blurred, and her knees buckled; she couldn't even reach out to catch herself.

However, instead of hitting a hard floor, she felt a soft, strong arm and hand lift her. The last thing she saw was a wall split open for the trio to pass through.

* * *

"Dammit."

"Friday still can't find her?" Pepper stood just behind Tony, arms hugging her body as she suddenly felt colder.

Tony tilted forward and caught himself on the desk in front of him, fist slamming on the hard metal. Pepper took a couple of steps forward, unwrapping herself just enough to place a gentle hand on Tony's back, just under his neck. The tension under her fingers caused her to bring her other arm around his front, turning him and enveloping him in her arms. His chin came to her shoulder while her right hand stayed on the back of his neck and her left hand went into his hair, his ear right next to his ear.

"We'll find her," Pepper cooed. "You'll find her."

They stayed like this for several moments.

"Have you told the others?"

"Rodgers and I aren't exactly on speaking terms, let alone anyone with him. We lost contact with Bruce way too long ago for him to be on Earth." He paused and turned, his head hanging low. "And I haven't had the heart to tell Peter yet."

Pepper placed a soft hand on his cheek, pushing his head up enough to catch his eyes in hers.

"They need to know, Tony." Tony's face winced, and his head began turning down again, but Pepper wouldn't let him. "They _deserve_ to know."

Tony took a moment to collect his thoughts and gaze at Pepper. Over the years, Aqua had become somewhat of a daughter to her, even when she and Tony hadn't been officially together. She taught Aqua about being a girl and had been in the process of teaching her about being a woman. While Tony was Aqua's father, Pepper was Aqua's mother, and they had now lost their daughter, coping as best they could. He couldn't believe Pepper's strength in the situation, but he did always know that while he may be the physical strength in their relationship, Pepper was the emotional and mental strength.

Tony finally nodded. He opened his arms and pulled Pepper into a tight, gentle embrace that she reciprocated. She could tell he was on the verge of tears, his breath as shaky as it was, but she would stay strong for him.

She released him from her arms and reached into the top draw of his work bench. Sitting right on top was a small flip phone, where it usually stayed. She quietly handed it to Tony, who took it with a small nod before turning to make the call. Pepper stayed where she was at, wanting to be there for the call in case Tony needed to hand the phone over. She heard the buttons click and Tony bring the phone to his ear.

" _Rodgers?_

…

 _Oh, Romanoff. Um, can you connect me through the speakers? There's something I have to tell all of you._

…

 _Look, it's an emergency. Please, just… connect me._

…

 _Thanks._

…

 _Guys, Aqua has been kidnapped._

…

 _No, I don't know who it is or where they took her._

…

 _Of course I've scanned for her. Friday can't find her. The only explanation is that she was taken off-world._

…

 _Her communicator has been disconnected from the satellites and Friday has scanned through all available cams to find evidence of her. So far, there's nothing._

…

 _It's been about a week._

…

 _Steve… that's not fair._

…

 _I will._

…

 _Yeah. Bye._

And the call ended. Tony kept his back to Pepper a while longer, giving himself time. The next call will probably be harder, despite the fact that he just got off the phone with most of the rest of Aqua's family. He took a deep breath and straightened himself out. Walking back to his work bench, he decided to use Friday to make his next call, not wanting to hold a phone to his ear in case he couldn't hold himself up.

"Friday, lock the door."

"Do you want me to leave?" Pepper asked, reaching up to catch a stray tear on Tony's cheek.

" _No_. I need you here."

Pepper simply nodded, folding herself into his side and hold his arm. Tony took another breath to center himself before finally making the call.

* * *

Being a Saturday, Peter was lounging in the living room with May. She still didn't know about the details of his "internship" and had promised he would spend most of the day with her. As much as he loved hanging with May, he hadn't heard from Aqua in a few days, and it started to worry him.

May was noticing, too. Which may have been the reason she wanted to hang out with him that day; to try to cheer him up from whatever was bothering him. So far, it didn't seem to be working.

Peter decided to lean over to May's shoulder, willing his mind to move off of Aqua. His motivations were in vain as his phone began to vibrate against both of their legs. May threw a disgruntled glance towards Peter. At first, he returned a guilty look to her, but after seeing who was calling, his face turned to pure confusion before bursting up from the couch and running to his room.

"Sorry! It's Mr. Stark! I'll be right back!" He shouted, trying to explain to May why he had to take this particular call when he wasn't even allowed to answer a call from Ned. Once his door was closed, he answered his phone.

"Hello?"

" _Peter?"_

"Hi, Mr. Stark. Wh-what can I do for you? Is there a mission?"

" _Um… no, not exactly."_

"Oh. W-what's going on…?" Tony's voice sounded strained and hesitant, and it was worrying Peter more so than not hearing from Aqua in several days.

" _There's not a lot of ways for me to say this, so… Here it goes."_

Tony took another pause. Peter held his breath. Something wasn't right.

" _Aqua's missing. Rather, we believe she's been kidnapped."_

Peter heart nearly stopped. He knew something was wrong, but he could never place the feeling. But this? Aqua was his first friend among the Avengers and they had gotten really close; texting nearly every day, hanging out in the compound when Peter could get there to train, and, when Mr. Stark had restricted her a bit, calling when either needed something more than a text but weren't able to see each other. She couldn't be gone. This had to be a joke…

" _-eter? Peter! You still with me?"_

"Uh – yeah. Yeah, I'm here. … Wait – how? Kidnapped? How? When?"

" _I-uh, it was about a week ago. One minute, we were sitting watching a movie, then you two were texting, and then she said she wanted some air. She went out to the clearing in the middle of the forest area on the grounds. Little less than an hour later, Friday alerted me to an intruder. I used the scanners, saw an outline of a person, and then they were both gone. At the clearing, there was only ice. Looked like she was ready for a fight."_

Peter was having a hard time digesting everything Mr. Stark was telling him. Finally, his brain caught up a bit, but not much.

"Wait – you're not kidding, are you? This isn't a joke?"

" _No. This isn't a joke. This is real."_

Peter's hand and arm went limp, causing him to drop his phone. May rushed in just in-time to see a tear roll from Peter's cheek and a confused look take over his features.


End file.
